UF reaches a settlement with shooting victim

By Nathan CrabbeStaff writer

Wednesday

Sep 8, 2010 at 12:33 AM

The University of Florida has reached a settlement with a doctoral student shot on March 2 by a campus police officer.

The University of Florida has reached a settlement with a doctoral student shot on March 2 by a campus police officer.At the same time, a consulting firm has recommended changes in response to the incident involving the way UF assesses threats and gets treatment for its mentally ill students and employees.Shooting victim Kofi Adu-Brempong has agreed not to sue the university, which has agreed to pay any medical bills not covered by insurance and allow him to complete his doctoral work in geography. Adu-Brempong's attorney, Bill Hoppe, declined to comment on the amount of any additional monetary settlement, saying that Adu-Brempong wants to keep the details confidential."What he wants is to finish his education," Hoppe said. "This settlement gives him both the time and the means to do so."In the wake of the shooting, UF commissioned the Richmond, Vt.-based consulting firm Margolis Healy & Associates to look into university procedures. The firm's report, released Tuesday, includes 19 recommendations, such as proposals that UF require involuntary counseling of students who pose a concern and that UF assess threats from faculty and staff as well as students.UF President Bernie Machen said he'll seek comments from faculty, staff and students before implementing any of the recommendations. He said the report offers a different way of assessing threats that is modeled on the response to the Virginia Tech shooting and could improve UF campus safety."That's what this is all about — to make sure the campus is safe and a good place to work and go to school," Machen said.Adu-Brempong, a geography doctoral student from Ghana, had been experiencing delusions about a plot to kill him when officers responded on March 2 to a report of screaming coming from his campus apartment. One officer subsequently shot Adu-Brempong in the face and hand for threatening officers with a metal rod, police have reported.Adu-Brempong suffered extensive damage to his mouth and has been fed through a tube since the shooting. Hoppe said Adu-Brempong still has problems talking and likely won't return to teach at UF, which he did before the shooting, but could work for the geography department in another capacity."If his department has something for him to do, I'm sure he'll do it," Hoppe said.He said Adu-Brempong needs to complete work on his dissertation to receive his degree, and could begin that work as he undergoes additional surgeries in the weeks ahead.UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said the university would not use state funds to pay for any settlement, but could not identify the source of the money. She also said the university would not release details on the amount, citing Adu-Brempong's wishes as well as federal and state student privacy laws. She did say that UF wishes that Adu-Brempong has "a full recovery and success in his academic endeavors."UF has paid Margolis Healy & Associates about $55,000 for two reviews involving the shooting. The firm's partners helped develop the response the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre in which a student fatally shot 32 people.The firm's first review found that the methods of an internal UF police investigation into the incident followed best practices. The firm did not review the investigation's outcome, which resulted in the firing of Lt. Stacy Ettel for his actions as commanding officer at the scene of the shooting.The second review focused mainly on UF's Behavorial Consultation Team, which reviews students who pose a threat to themselves or others and includes UF officials in areas such as law enforcement, student affairs, counseling and student judicial affairs. The new report, which came from that review, recommended that the team separate cases in which students pose a threat for violence from cases in which students need care.While the consultation team currently looks only at student cases, the firm recommended that it also assess threats posed by faculty and staff. It proposed that UF hire full-time case managers to handle all of the cases.In addition, the firm recommended that the team report directly to the UF president's office.The firm proposed that involuntary counseling — which UF already uses with employees of concern — be used with students. Machen said it's unclear how the university could mandate such a requirement and whether it should, but that it could provide benefits."Sometimes people need help and don't believe they need help," he said.The report had just two recommendations directed specifically at the University Police Department. It recommended that the department consider a policy on its use of force with mentally ill subjects and include in its policies the issue of "excited delirium," a controversial term that has been used to explain the deaths of individuals in police custody.UF professor Dr. Bruce Stevens, co-president of the Gainesville chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has questioned whether the appropriate steps were taken to get Adu-Brempong mental-health treatment before the shooting. After a cursory review of the report, he said he thought the recommendations were "thoughtful" and had the right focus."It addressed how the university should approach mental-health care as opposed to the mechanics of what the police department should have done," he said.Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com.

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